Oklahoma governor indicators Texas-style ban on most abortions

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

3 Could 2022, 23:03

• 4 min learn

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of being pregnant, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.

“I would like Oklahoma to be probably the most pro-life state within the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the invoice comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect immediately along with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an emergency request to briefly halt the bill. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new legislation is in impact, they are going to immediately stop offering providers for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the regulation is in effect, which it now is as a result of the governor signed it, abortion providers after six weeks might be largely unavailable," said Rabia Muqaddam, a workers attorney for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will still grant us reduction."

The brand new regulation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise might be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a being pregnant, earlier than many ladies know they're pregnant. A similar bill permitted in Texas final year led to a dramatic discount within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the procedure.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' regulation that took effect in September has given their staff an thought of what a post-Roe country may appear like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have commonly treated patients who're fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking time off of work, taking day trip of college and taking time away from their household obligations to get the care that till September 2021 they had been in a position to get safely and readily of their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, however there are not any exceptions if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas regulation, the Oklahoma invoice would allow private citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a girl acquire an abortion for up to $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Courtroom allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been quickly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure is not set to take impact until this summer time, and authorized consultants say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The number of abortions performed every year in Oklahoma, which has 4 abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to 3,737 in 2020, the fewest in more than 20 years, in response to information from the Oklahoma State Division of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the data reveals. That number jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.